Another great thread, and most of the answers seem to have been nailed! However one potential misaprehension that should be cut off at the pass -
Eric1001 wrote:
...The air droppings on Schiphol were done from May 2 till May 7, 1945. It seems the Americans did most or all of them.
It is absolutely correct that US operated Boeing B-17s did all the drops at Schiphol, dropping 800 tons of K rations there. But Operations
Manna (British Commonwealth) and
Chowhound (US) were much bigger than that, and the operation's initial risk was taken by a Canadian-crew RAF Lancaster 'Bad Penny' that dropped food
before the ceasefire was agreed.
The British Commonwealth crews in mostly RAF Lancasters and Mosquitoes dropped 6,680 tons of food from nearly 3,300 ops. The US forces dropped 4,000 tons on 2,268 missions, plus 800 tons at Schiphol.
One Lancaster load (AWM).
Like the Berlin Airlift, we know
now it was a successful multi-national operation for the greatest of humanitarian reasons.
However we must remember that they didn't know how it would pan out
then, and it was quite possible that it could easily have become a bloodbath if the truce had broken for any one of a hundred reasons. Rightly, those crews who undertook the missions often regard the flights as some of the best work the did.
1st Lt. Robert L. Miller - 493rd Bomb Group.
Quote:
Mercy missions to starving Dutch people are now being flown by the 8th A.F. Flew my first today, and it was a thrill. We came over in formation at 400 feet. To see the people waving at us and to see "Thanks Boys" and "Many Thanks" spelled out with flowers gives you a warm glow. Just sitting there and looking at them brought tears to my eyes, and I'm not ashamed of it, either! To think that today we did good instead of blowing towns and people to hell makes me realize that there is still some good left in this world.
Unlike the Berlin Airlift, the air support alone was not enough; so a trucking delivery by land,
Operation Faust was brought into action. But that's another story.
Sadly a mid-air collision in bad weather cost the lives of two USAAF 388th BG B-17 crews. However, remarkably, they were the only losses.
Quote:
Dad recalled being terrified at flying so low and so slowly - just above stalling speed. Crews could see the German anti-aircraft guns tracking them, including the fearsome 88mm guns accurate to 20,000ft, and said he felt like they could have reached up and slapped his backside. It was an eerie feeling for crews who were used to bombing from 15,000ft or more to be flying a slow pass over enemy guns at just a couple of hundred feet. Several Lancasters, Dad's included took some rifle fire from below but luckily no one was injured. Dad's pilot retaliated by diving onto a tented German camp, gunning the engines and blowing the tents apart! He also recalled one trip where the pilot took the Lancaster up a wide boulevard in a town at absolutely zero feet while the crew looked up at the cheering faces in the house windows on either side. For men used to dropping destruction it was an incredibly moving experience and one Dad was incredibly proud of.
Dutch girl Arie de Jong, a seventeen-year-old student at the time, wrote in her diary:
Quote:
"There are no words to describe the emotions experienced on that Sunday afternoon. More than 300 four-engined Lancasters, flying exceptionally low, suddenly filled the western horizon. One could see the gunners waving in their turrets. A marvellous sight. One Lancaster roared over the town at 70 feet. I saw the aircraft tacking between church steeples and drop its bags in the South. Everywhere we looked, bombers could be seen. No one remained inside and everybody dared to wave cloths and flags. What a feast! Everyone is excited with joy. The war must be over soon now."
http://crivensjingsandhelpmaboab.blogsp ... manna.htmlBook: 'The Flying Grocer' by Rupert Guinness
http://operationmanna.secondworldwar.nl/chowhound.phphttp://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2010/04/29/f ... anna-1945/Most importantly, I know from personal experience that the Dutch have not forgotten.
Regards,
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